We Are Rivers: Conversations about the Rivers that Connect Us – A Podcast by American Rivers

To further the conversation about the value and complexity of rivers, American Rivers launched our podcast series, “We are Rivers: Conversations about the Rivers that Connect Us.”

“We Are Rivers” takes its listeners on a journey to tell the stories of rivers and the important relationship they have with us. It explores the culture and history of the west and our nation by talking with adventurers, writers, water experts, and artists about their connection to rivers, and how they impact their lives. The podcast series covers a wide array of topics across the Colorado Basin and other rivers across the country.

Annemarie Lewis, an American Rivers intern, writes and hosts the podcast series while attending college in Colorado Springs. She started making podcasts about water conservation while in high school and plans on, “Living a life full of water conservation advocacy.” Her hobbies include backpacking, climbing, river running, and she is an amateur piano player.

Join us as we discover stories of success and challenges facing rivers across the west. Listen in today and take action today to protect the important rivers that connect us.

“We Are Rivers” explores how our rivers are managed, but, more importantly, describes the incredible hope and immense capacity of human innovation to protect and restore rivers. Through “We Are Rivers,” American Rivers, a national river conservation organization, explores stories of rivers, people, and policies so that we may all connect, empathize, understand, and work to save our nation’s rivers.

“The Value of Rivers” explores the value rivers have on our environment, economy, and way of life. Rivers contribute so much more than just a beautiful backdrop, they are magnets for biodiversity and life. In the Southwest, 90% of the nation’s winter fruits and vegetables are grown with water diverted from the Colorado River. Additionally, the Colorado River is economically significant with it and its tributaries contributing $1.4 trillion dollar to our economy. This includes $26 billion dollars annually through recreation alone. Join us in this episode of “We Are Rivers,” exploring the incredible value of western rivers.

More than a century ago, populations across the west were booming. The seven states dependent on the Colorado River recognized the need to formally divide it, ensuring everyone received an appropriate amount of water. Ratified in 1922, the Colorado River Compact marked the beginning of how and why the Colorado River is managed as it is today.

But the Compact is only one thread in a much larger story. Because the whole basin’s demand for water is higher than what it can supply, the Colorado River has become both one of the most stringently managed, as well as aggressively disputed, rivers in the world. There are numerous other compacts, federal laws, court decisions, decrees, contracts, and guidelines that have been developed since the 1922 compact that dictate the challenging management of the Colorado River; these are collectively known as the “Law of the River.”

“Turning Towards Solutions” builds upon our previous episode, “Law of the River.” Across the Colorado River Basin, collaboration, cooperation, and compromise between towns, districts, states, and basins is a common theme. “Turning Towards Solutions” explores how collaborative actions like the Drought Contingency Plan and Minute 319 (the pulse flow) are creating promise and opportunity for sustaining the Colorado River and the people and communities that depend on it. Tune in to hear about efforts to create a new pathway to preserve both this crucial resource, and the legacy of the entire southwest.

Since its creation, through today, Glen Canyon Dam has had its supporters and adversaries. In episode 5 of the We Are Rivers podcast dives into issues, opinions, and controversy surrounding Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell.

In 2015, Colorado took a big first step towards protecting our rivers, heritage, and way of life with the completion of Colorado’s Water Plan. While there is still much to do, the plan creates a framework to help us understand the actions needed to achieve a balance between the water we have and the water we need. Colorado’s Water Plan set a new path towards a secure water future to protect our state’s rivers, secure clean, safe reliable drinking water for our communities, and preserve our agricultural heritage. Now, our water future depends on funding elements of the plan. Episode 6 of We are Rivers dives into the big picture of Colorado’s Water Plan.

As the end of 2017 inches closer, staff at American Rivers reflect on how the past year has been for rivers. The Trump Administration was not kind to rivers or clean water. However, despite the many challenges working against us, staff at American Rivers’, along with our members, supporters, and listener’s just like you have worked diligently over the last 12 months to make our voices heard and ensure rivers across the country are protected.

Amidst the largest dam building era in the United States, Congress realized urgency around preserving certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act into law, giving rivers a special designation to protect the remarkable values that free-flowing rivers have across the country. The Act is notable for safeguarding the special character of these rivers, while recognizing the potential for their appropriate use and development. It encourages river management crossing political boundaries and promoting public participation to develop goals for river protection. In this episode of We Are Rivers, we dive into the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and how it protects rivers, ensures community engagement, and preserves free flowing rivers for present and future generations. Tune in to learn more.

In this week’s episode of We Are Rivers, we describe the impact we will make through the 5,000 Miles of Wild® campaign – including the protection of an additional 5,000 river miles and collecting 5,000 of your river stories. Stories cultivate and spread passion: your stories will illustrate the personal and cultural values of rivers to policy makers, and you can help the campaign by posting your own story at www.5000miles.org!

Arizona is a renowned leader in water management, thanks to more than a century of careful planning and effective leadership. But, with drought and declining water levels in the state’s key water supplies, Arizona must do more. Tune in to “Episode 10: Securing Arizona’s Water Supply is a Team Effort,” to hear how Arizona and other Lower Basin states are working together to reduce demand of the Colorado River through the Drought Contingency Plan.

In this episode of We Are Rivers, we explore the ideas and efforts behind expanded demand management and increased conservation across the Upper Basin with Scott Yates of Trout Unlimited and Taylor Hawes of The Nature Conservancy, both of whom are deeply integrated into the nuance and detail of developing a system that works for everyone who relies on the Colorado River, as well as the long-term, sustainable health of the Colorado River itself.